An Orc in Bloodied Rags Dual-Wielding Laser SMGs Flying on Butterfly Wings
Clem fell through darkness and into a dark gnarled tree. Everything was dark, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that the trees around him were watching him. As he looked around, trying to get his bearings, monstrous insects crawled through the undergrowth, up the trees, and along nearby vines. A high pitched noise reached him from somewhere in the distance; it was somewhere between a maniacal laugh and a scream. Clem saw a light in the distance and ran towards it, trees scratching him and clutching at his clothing as he passed.
Clem soon found the source of the light. He screeched to a stop at the edge of a clearing that was lit by a huge pile of burning books in the center. At the far edge of the clearing, he could just make out Ronin and Aneki tied to trees, Aneki dressed in fancy emperor’s robes. Clem crept around the edge of the clearing towards them.
As the orc slipped through the trees, three figured plummeted from the sky. Clem, seeing that the approaching figures had wings, armor, and flaming swords, carefully leaned his companions against a nearby tree and pulled out the big gun. A crone emerged from the woods nearby and smiled menacingly, dark bat-shaped wings unfurling behind her.
Clem fired the big gun, and the crone flew backwards into the trees. Angel 1 thumped to the ground and swung his sword threateningly in Clem’s general direction. Angels 2 and 3 landed gracefully between Clem and Ronin and Aneki. From out of the trees, the crone shot a pulse of dark energy, which Clem dodged with ease. He darted towards Ronin’s tree, barely feeling it when Angel 2 swung at him as he passed. Clem swung his axe into the ropes holding Ronin, and the Overwatch operative started to wriggle free. Dodger must have done something to attract the attention of the angels: they suddenly all piled on top of him. The crone shot a ball of lightning out of the trees as Clem cut the ropes on Aneki.
Just then, a large presence passed through the clearing. Half of the area exploded as a huge tree grew up suddenly, throwing everyone to the ground.
“My father, my son, you have returned! You must suffer penance for your betrayal!”
At the sound of the booming voice, Ronin’s and Aneki’s trees grew rapidly skyward. A large glowing circle appeared in the sky, then fell in like a manhole cover. Clem glimpsed Seattle through the hole in the sky before a small girl with multicolored hair stepped through and floated downwards. She reached out a hand, and Dodger was delivered from the midst of the angels, transforming into his normal matrix avatar. The girl smiled at him, then turned to face the massive tree - DEUS incarnate.
At the edge of the clearing, Pary and Rhineholt stirred awake, power coursing through their bodies, wounded bodies knitting themselves back together. As they stood, feeling invigorated, vines sprouted near the bases of Ronin’s and Aneki’s trees and crept up the trunks of the trees. They watched as Clem shrugged off a lightning bolt from the crone, then used the big gun to blow the nearest angel away in a “gigantic splattering of splat splat”, then rushed to join their friend.
One of the angels that hadn’t been turned into a splattery pile swung his sword at Rhineholt and was surprised when Rhineholt countered, landing a blow on the angel’s arm. Pary drew her spiked club and swung at the angel and was surprised when the angel countered, landing a blow on her. The angel turned to swing at Clem, who swung his axe into the angel’s shoulder blade. A cracking sound came from within the angel’s body, and Rhineholt finished off the angel with his katana. As the angel fell to the ground, Clem realized that his SMGs had been converted into super fancy laser SMGs.
Pax (who is apparently a person who existed) appeared at the edge of the soods and drew a dark violet whip. He (she? It’s a little unclear.) lashed the whip at Pary, who barrel rolled out of the way. Clem dashed to the bottom of Aneki’s tree and started to climb. Another angel plummeted through the sky, heading straight for Pary and Rhineholt. Pary swung her club at Pax as the falling angel stabbed at Rhineholt. Dodger, who had fire coming from his hands, ran towards Pax without making any progress. Pax coiled his whip around Pary, who froze as a deep chill seeped from the ship and into her tiny body.
Clem, sensing that his teammates were in danger, dropped from the tree and shot the diving angel’s wings off. The last thing Clem saw was the angel falling into the bonfire before a sphere of pitch blackness settled around him. A severe thunderstorm blew in out of nowhere, and Clem could hear lightning striking the trees and the angels still in the sky. One angel slammed into the ground and staggered to his feet, half of his feathers missing. Clem stumbled around in the dark, then fired towards sounds from outside the darkness. He managed to fry the staggering angel, who glowed from the inside before blowing up.
At the edge of the clearing, Pax shot energy through the whip wrapped around Pary, who shuddered once before crumpling to the ground. Rhineholt sliced at the nearest angel and was hit with a vicious counterstrike. Clem, still standing near the base of the giant trees, shook and shivered as vines srapped themselves around him. Dodger, now conveniently able to move, rushed over to Pary and used his fancy fire hands to revive her. Pary jumped up and ran to Aneki’s tree, trying unsuccessfully to clamber up the trunk.
Nets and spikes popped up around the clearing, making the once-smooth ground suddenly treacherous. Outside the clearing, trees began to topple as the forest morphed into a large swamp and a medieval keep materialized at the base of Aneki’s tree. Clem shook himself free of the vines that held him and knocked a nearby angel into a bear trap. The angel’s momentum carried him backwards into a lake that had appeared in the middle of the clearing. As another angel leaped at Rhineholt, Pax blasted lightning at Dodger, who deflected the crackling ball of energy with a shield that he managed to pull from nowhere. Rhineholt cast armor on himself and found himself surrounded by a wild glitter storm. Dodger beat the snot out of Pax, and Pary used the stairs in the fortress to get halfway up the tree to Aneki.
Rhineholt found himself being knocked off his feet by a sudden stream of water from DEUS’s tree. Clem suddenly sprouted giant butterfly wings and flew up the tree to free Aneki. He used the laser on an SMG to cut Aneki’s bonds, then cradled Aneki in his arms and lowered him safely to the ground. Tears streamed down the Aneki’s cheeks as he found his footing on the forest floor, looking the more lucid than the runners had ever seen him. He recited a haiku before pulling a dagger from his robes and beginning an intricate dance. As the dance reached its climax, Aneki started to glow, then stabbed himself in the stomach. DEUS’s tree cracked ominously, and the girl with multicolored hair waved a sad goodbye to Dodger before being sucked into the pit that was opening in the center of the clearing. The runners clawed desperately at the ground as the world tilted and they started to slide helplessly towards the giant sinkhole.
The runners suddenly found themselves back in their bodies. They groggily pulled the datajacks from their heads and turned off the machines they had been attached to. Cham stepped forward to collect the mousetrap, then pulled out a pistol and shot Aneki’s already- lifeless body. With a grim expression and a threatening tone, he “advised” the runners that they should lay low and keep quiet about the things they had seen in the arcology.
The runners escaped the arcology that day. Taking Cham’s words to heart, they tried their best to quietly slip back into their everyday lives, even giving up their shadowrunning habits to live off the money they had made over the course of their experiences with DEUS.
The End… For Now.